Having children has taught me the value in following schedules—especially when it comes to eating and sleeping. That said, summertime activities and a newborn baby tend to throw a wrench in our best-laid plans. It’s true that Jack has never been a “good sleeper.” It takes him a long time to settle in at night and then he’s up at the first light. It’s like he’s afraid the world is going to have fun without him. And during the day he goes about 100 mph, eating, playing and “working” (his work usually consists of a really creative cooking or craft project that takes over a third of the house). At only 4 months, I can already tell that Matthew is a different boy. He’s a little more easygoing, taking life one toy rattle at a time. He enjoys quiet time to himself, which I suppose is a rare commodity for the second born.

But now that school has started up again, we’re more focused on keeping schedules. There are kids to dress, lunches to pack and carpool lines to get into, all of which is an adventure with a 5-year old and a newborn. Jack was so excited about his first day. The whole drive to school he talked nonstop. When I got back to the house, Matthew looked up at me as if to say, “Why are things suddenly so quiet?”

I expected the boys would be different—most siblings are—but they are very much alike in two ways. One, they both have these incredible smiles. The kind of smiles that you can’t help giving back even when you’re more tired than you ever thought possible. And two, they have huge appetites. From birth, Matthew ate as if every meal might be his last. He’s such a big, healthy baby that I have to remind people he’s only a few months old. Jack’s always been a good eater and when he gets in a growth spurt, you’d better cover your plate (and count your fingers).

I thought Jack would be tired when he came home from school, but instead he’s ready to play and ready to eat. I’ve found that cooking together gives us a moment to reconnect after time apart and also gets something relatively healthy into his belly. He loves my chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. The recipe has quite a bit of oatmeal and I use golden raisins. The other day we made those and he ate five in a row. But I didn’t feel too bad about it. It’s not exactly a healthy recipe, but at least there’s not a ton of sugar or butter. Poor Matthew looks as if he wants nothing more than a bite of that cookie, but his time will come (and I’m going to have to get a bigger pantry when it does).

So that’s my life right now—scheduled chaos. At night I fall into bed profoundly tired, but also deeply satisfied. As a parent, you have to prioritize your day in order to accomplish all that needs to be done, which is why I’ve decided to take a brief hiatus from blogging to pursue some exciting endeavors that I hope to share with you in the near future.

As always, thank you for all your kind words of encouragement and support!

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
yields: 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins.

Chill the dough for at least 20 minutes. Scoop the cookies about 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, taking them out when golden around the edges. Let the cookies sit for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.

Summers are supposed to be sunny and hot, but here in Savannah the weather is so unbearable and the mosquitoes are so thick that we might as well be snowed in. Even the pool is already over 100 degrees, making it feel like a hot shower. So we take refuge in our air-conditioned home and try to come up with new and creative ways to spend our days together.

When trying to think up something fun, I like to take cues from Jack—to keep in mind what he already likes to do. He loves to create, especially when it comes to cooking. Each morning he gets up and asks me, “What can we make today?” Jamie and I have found that we can get him to eat healthy if we can figure out ways to make it fun. I’m not one of those people where everything’s got to be organic, but I go to lengths to avoid excess fat and processed food when I can, which is really important since Jack is in the middle of (another) growth spurt. For example, I try to not use butter when we do steamed vegetables and we always have fresh fruit on hand. So Jack and I have started a summer tradition of making fruit smoothies everyday. We try out all sorts of different ingredients but follow a general recipe that includes Greek yogurt for protein, one frozen fruit, one fresh fruit and a splash of apple juice for sweetness. I’ve included our delicious mango-banana-pineapple smoothie recipe for you to try (he named it “Jack’s Favorite”). He tops it off with a fun straw (we printed the straw toppers in the photo from the Nick Jr. site) and sucks it down. Jack’s gotten so good at making smoothies that he’s sure we could open our very own smoothie stand (clearly, he’s a Deen).

Some of the fruits we use come from Jack’s own garden. See, we also discovered that involving Jack in gardening has widened his appreciation for foods he otherwise may have turned up his nose at. We use a small window box in the backyard as Jack’s personal garden. There he’s planted different fruits and vegetables. Right now he’s got basil and tomatoes. And he’s really excited about it. He gets up each morning before it starts to swelter outside and he checks on his plants, waters them and picks the fruits and veggies when they’re ready. He eats them right there. Before he grew tomatoes, he wouldn’t have anything to do with them. But now that he can grow tomatoes and pick them right off the vine, he’s eating them! Gardening is such a great activity for all kids, and for 4-year-olds, a small container garden like Jack’s window box is a great place to start.

These morning rituals have become a big part of our summer together. And besides being fun, cooking and gardening teach young children to appreciate the taste of healthy foods and understand how we get them. And who knows, maybe Jack has a future in fresh-fruit smoothie sales. But for now, I think we’ll keep it indoors.

“Jack’s Favorite”: Mango-Banana-Pineapple Smoothie

1 Cup frozen Mango chunks
1 Cup frozen Pineapple chunks
1 Medium banana
1 Container vanilla Greek yogurt (5.3 oz)
1 1/2 cups apple juice

Place the fruit in the base of the blender. Add yogurt and juice. Blend on low, stopping the blender to stir if necessary, until smooth. Increase to high for a several seconds. Divide the mixture among your cups and top with fresh mango or pineapple.

Other Smoothie Recipes from Jack’s Grandma:
Peach Smoothie
Tropical Fruit Smoothie
Pina Colada Smoothie

If I asked Jamie what he wants for Father’s Day, I know what he’d say: “I already have everything I want.”

It’s true. He has two happy, healthy and adoring sons. He has a wife who loves and respects him, and a family that often considers him the glue that holds us all together with his humor, kindness . . . and irresistible dimples. But all the same, I wanted to do something special for him this Father’s Day—something that money can’t buy.

I’ve always thought it’s important to involve your kids as much as possible when coming up with a gift for Father’s Day—he’s their daddy after all. I can remember spending hours making my daddy a card with construction paper and crayons and he always acted like I had given him the world. I think a child’s touch means so much more than a store-bought card or a big, orchestrated event. Find fun and creative ways to get them involved and at the same time teach them how important it is to say “thank you” for all that their daddy does for them—all the time he makes and love he gives.

One of Jamie’s favorite gifts from Jack is a steppingstone we made for the garden. I helped Jack press his little hand into the mold and then he decorated it like only a child can. He’s still so proud of that stone. We’ll always cook a nice dinner for Jamie, too. He’s usually the one in the kitchen (can you blame me?) so we like to give him a night off. Jack picks the menu, sets the table and acts as my Sous Chef. The point is, we always make something.

Of course, when the kids are small, you have to be a little more creative when it comes to involving them. On Jamie’s first Father’s Day, Jack wasn’t quite a year old. That gave me plenty of time to take hundreds of pictures of the two of them together and collect them into a scrapbook. I put all this time into it and it turned out perfect—something that we’ll enjoy forever. Sometimes Jamie and I flip through it together hardly able to remember when Jack (or Jamie!) was ever that young. I like taking the time to frame photos because these days they often get left on the camera’s memory card or stuck on the computer’s hard drive. You may have a ton of photos, but what’s the point if no one sees them? So I bought Jamie a cube photo frame made of glass that he could put on his desk. If he’s having a hard day at work, he can just look at those pictures of him and the boys and know the joy that’s waiting for him when he comes home. Now that joy has doubled—and so have the number of pictures!

Jack and I really worked hard on this year’s Father’s Day gift. And even though Baby Matthew couldn’t really participate in the process, Jack figured out some ways to involve him one way or another—even if it meant tickling Matthew’s toes and making crazy faces to get him to giggle for yet another photo op. Eventually, Jack and Matthew will come up with a plan for Father’s Day all on their own. They’ll make him a breakfast o’ champions, treat him to a weekend Braves game, a fishing trip . . . .

But for now, I help my sons find thoughtful ways to tell their daddy that they love and appreciate him. And I don’t forget to say it myself. Jamie has always been a wonderful husband, but seeing him be a daddy to our boys fills my heart with more joy than I could ever imagine.

As the countdown to the birth of my second child ticks away, I’m getting a little impatient. I’ve prepared the nursery, stacked diapers and pre-washed every onesie. Now I’m in a holding pattern, flying in circles above the airport waiting for the ground crew to clear me for landing. But they must be asleep on the job ‘cause no one’s making the call. So I wait. And the longer I wait, the more I stress.

Jamie’s finally home after a book tour with his brother to promote their new cookbook, The Deen Bros. Get Fired Up. It’s another baby of sorts for us—one we’re both very excited about and proud of. I can handle things on my end while he’s gone, but I’m sure glad he’s home in time. Usually our 4-year-old son, Jack, and I would tag along, making a family vacation out of it, but not this close to my due date. Sure, I have family near to help, but I prefer to take care of things on my own. It’s my job, after all, and one that I take very seriously. Some people may think I have nannies and babysitters on speed dial, but I don’t. Jack’s had a babysitter about two times in his life. It’s not that I don’t need a break, I just know that no one can care for him like we can—and these early years are so fleeting, I want to hold on to every precious moment.

So today I find myself chasing around my rambunctious boy wondering just how many rounds of duck-duck-goose it will take to shake this baby loose. The doctor informed me that it could happen anytime between today and two weeks. Today sounds good, but sometime after taking Jack to Paula’s to play with the new bunnies and before Jamie leaves on another plane would be just about right—so, yeah, if you’re listening, lil’ man, 4:18 works for me.

Everyone keeps reminding me to use this time to get some rest—to bank my sleep before the baby arrives. But that’s the third-trimester irony: you can’t sleep. Your hips feel like they’re being prodded with a burning stick and if I have one more dream about birthing a dinosaur, I’m going to need counseling. Lately, I wake at 3 AM and stare at the ceiling fan for about 4 hours. Right about the time I think sleep might be possible, Jack pounces on the bed full of energy and remains that way until 8 PM.

I know, by comparison, this is supposed to be the “easy” part. Soon I’ll be juggling two children. Swaddling a newborn while simultaneously gluing Batman’s head back on. But by comparison, the “hard” part is what I look forward to the most. After all, it’s the part where I finally get to meet my baby boy face-to-face. The part where Jack becomes the overprotective big brother and Jamie and I share quiet look-what-we’ve-made-together moments as we watch our boys grow.

So please, give the signal. Ring the bell. Unleash the hounds. Whatever. Just land the plane already.